Pressure reducing apparatus



Jan. 2, 1940.

P. SPENCE Y PRESSURE REDUCING `APMRATUS original Filed May 22, 1951Patented Jan. 2, 1940- UNITED STATES PRESSURE REDUCING APPARATUS PaulsenSpence, East Orange, N. J.

Original application May 22, 1931, Serial No.

539,265, now Patent No. 2,067,510, dated January 12, 1937. Divided andthis application June 8, 1936, Serial No. 84,181

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a pressure reducing apparatus for reducing thepressure. of fluids. This application is a division of my application,Serial No. 539,265, led May 22, 1931, and now I Patent No. 2,067,510,granted January. A12, 1937.

As .is well known, pressure reducing valves are apt to be noisy. Thenoise is largely-due to the vibration caused by the fluid passing athigh velocity through the restricted orifice between thevalve head andvalve disc, and is especially noticeable when the valve is only partlyopen. The valve disc, due to its position in the path of the iiuidstream and its comparatively small bulk, is especially liable to vibratenoisily. Noise l is also caused by vibration incident to eddy `currentsin the discharge pipel leading from the valve.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pressure reducingapparatus for effecting a reduction in the pressure of a fluid withoutany substantial noise.

Briefly stated,'I achieve this' result by pro, viding means `formuiiling the valve disc, and means for creating a resistance in. thedischarge of the valve so that the valve will open wider, and means forreducing eddy currents in the discharge pipe leading from the valve.Each of thesemeans can be separately employed but the best results willbe obtained by using them lin combination.

Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out or willbecome apparent upon a reading of the speciiication.

,In the drawing which shows, for illustrative purposes only, a preferredform of the invention, the figure is a central sectional view of apressure reducing apparatus embodying the features of my invention,parts being shown in elevation.

In the drawing 2 represents the body of a main valve which may be of thetype disclosed in my application, Serial No. 366,837, filed May 29,i929, now Patent No. 1,995,949. The body 2 has an inlet chamber 3 and anoutlet chamber '4. 5 represents a valve seat and 6 is a valve stem.Attached to the valve stem 8 are 'a valve disk 1, muiiiing means 8 and avalve-head 9. 'I'he valve disk 1 is formed so as to fit the seat 5 andthe seat and disk are curved to create a Venturi effect so that themaximum velocity is at the center ,of the orifice.

The valve head 9 is quite thick and of heavy construction. Interposedbetween the 'disk 1 and the head 9 and held between these members is themailling means 8. This means preferablyu consists of a compressiblepacking washer or gasket which serves to damp the vibration of thedisk 1. In the form shown the valve stem 6 passes through openings inthe disk 1 in the muflling means 8 and in the head 9. The parts 5 1, 8and 9, are held in place against a shoulder on the valve stern 6 bymeans of a nut I0, which is threaded onto the endl of the valve stem 6.

Coacting with a disk II attached to the valve stem 6 is a flexiblediaphragm I2.` The dia.- 10 phragm is contained in a .diaphragm chamberwhich may be integralwith the body 2. The,- diaphragm divides thediaphragm chamberdnto twochambers I3 and I4 which, for'convenience, Ishall term the lupper yand lower diaphragm chambers, respectively.

A light spring I5 may be placed preferably in one of the diaphragmchambers, for the purpose of taking up slack. Communication is providedbetween the outlet chamber 4 and the diaphragm 20 chamber I3 bylooselyfltting the valve stem 6 inv the body 2, so that the iiuid in theoutlet chamber 4 will leak past the valve stem 6 into the f diaphragmchamber I3. I8 is a hand-operated gate valve, which may be secured tothe outlet '25 i side of the main valve 2.

I providemeans for creating. a resistance in the dischargeof the mainvalv'e, so that it will open wider than it otherwise would, thus causinga substantia1 reduction in the wire-drawing 30 yeffect and reducingvibration and noise. 'Ihis means is an orifice `plate I1, having arestricted opening therethrough, which may be connected to the dischargeside of the hand-operable valve I8. By means of this orifice plate adouble stagev pressure reduction is secured, the first reduction beingcaused by the resistance of the restricted orifice between the valveseat 5 and the valve disk 1, and the second reduction being caused bythe resistance of the orice plate I1. Since the main 40 valve is onlyrequired to effect a part of the total pressure drop, it can open widerthan it would if it had to produce the entire pressure drop. The wideropening of the valve permits a less uid l velocity through the valve andconsequently y there is less noise. The hand-operated gate valve I6 isinterposed between the main valve and the orifice plate I1 so that theiluidcan be shut ofi from the orifice plate I1 whenever it is desired tochange the orifice plate.

I also provide means for reducing eddy currents 'in the discharge pipeleading from the main valve. This is a funnnel-shaped nozzle I8, whichis connected to the discharge side of the valve. This reduces eddycurrentsin the dis- 55 charge and when the apparatus is used with anelastic iluid, such as steam, it permits the uid to expand gradually,keeping the velocity practically constant, so that vibration and noiseare reduced.

I9 is a fluid conducting means leading from the inlet chamber 3 to thediaphragm chamber I4 and also to the outlet chamber 4. The fluidconducting means I9 opens into the diaphragm chamber I4 through therestricted orifice 20 and opens into the outlet chamber 4 through therestricted orifice 2|.

Interposed in the fluid conducting means I9 is a pilot valve 22. 23represents the body of the pilot valve. 24 is a valve head and 25 is avalve stem connected to the valve head 24. 20 is a disk connected to thevalve stem 25 and which coacts with a flexible diaphragm 21. Thediaphragm 21, together with the body 23, forms a diaphragm chamber 28.29 is a light spring which holds the disk 26 in contact with thediaphragm 21. 30 is a comparatively heavy spring, which is interposedbetween the body 23 and the diaphragm 21, for the purpose of, moving thediaphragm and the valve stem in the direction te open the pilot valve.3| is a control pipe leading from the diaphragm chamber 28 to thechamber containing the fluid, the pressure of which is to be regulated.In the form shown in the drawing the control pipe 3| opens into thenozzle I3 at a point 32 in the wall of the nozzle.

'I'he sizes of the restricted orifices 20 and 2| regulate the rate ofopening or closing of the main valve. The main valv'e will open moreslowly when the restricted orifice 20 is made smaller or when therestricted orifice 2| is made larger. The main valve will close moreslowly when either the orice 20 or the orice 2| is made smaller.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Let us assume that it is desired to reduce the pressure of a iluidhaving a pressure of 1000 lbs. to the square inch in chamber 3, so as tomaintain a pressure oi 200 lbs. to the square inch at point 32 in thenozzle I8. As stated above, this pressure reduction is made in twostages. For instance, the size of the. orifice in the orifice plate I1may be adjusted so that with the normal rate of fiow the pressure of thefluid will be reduced from 1000 lbs. per square inch to 500 lbs. per

square inch in passing through the main valve, and so that the pressureof the fluid will be reduced from 50G-lbs. per square inch to 200 lbs.per square inch in passing through the orifice plate I1. The spring 30is adjusted so that its tension will be approximately equal to thepresthe pilot valve 22 will remain open, allowingv high pressure fluidfrom the chamber 3 to pass through the pipe I0 and the orifice 20 intothe diaphragm chamber I4. The high pressure iluid in the diaphragmchamber I4 will act upon the diaphragm I2 so as to hold the main valveopen until the pressure in the control pipe 3| reaches 200 lbs. persquare inch, at which time the pilot valve will partially close.Thereafter, due to the escape of fluid from the diaphragm chamber I4 tothe outlet chamber 4 through the orifices 20 and 2|, the pressure in the,diaphragm chamber I4 will be gradually reduced until the pressure inthe chamber I3 together with the tension of the spring I5 will operateto partially close the main valve. Thereafter, if the pressure in thecontrol pipe 3| drops below 200 lbs. per square inch, the tension of thespring 30 will move the diaphragm 21 against the pressure in thediaphragm chamber 23 so as to cause the pilot valve 22 to open Wider.This will cause the pressure in the diaphragm chamber I4 to build up andact upon the diaphragm I2 to cause the main valve to open wider.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a.- pressure reducingapparatus whereby a substantially uniform and predetermined pressure maybe maintained at the' outlet side ofthe main valve without anysubstantial noise.

While the invention has been described in considerable detail and aspecific form shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that theinvention may be otherwise embodied and employed in connection withpressure reducing valves and the like of various types other than hereinshown.

I claim:

A pressure reducing means including an orifice plate having an orificeand a main valve, said orifice and main valve being arranged in seriesto each independently cause a pressure drop, an expanding conduit togradually expand iiuid after passing the last of said members in series,muilling means for said valve, said muflling means, orifice andexpanding conduit cooperating to reduce fluid expansion noises, iluidpressure actuated means for said valve, means for controlling the fluid'pressure on saidV fluid pressure actuated means and operableindependently of the pressure increased velocity of iiuid in passingthrough said orifice.

PAULSEN SPENCE.

